Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered ministers on Tuesday to draft new legislation to tackle illegal immigrants after the High Court overturned a law allowing their extended detention without trial.
The order came at a meeting with the ministers of justice, the interior and public security a day after a heated parliamentary debate which saw hardline MPs attacking the court ruling.
‘At the end of the meeting, the prime minister requested that a new bill be prepared that would express the government of Israel’s determination to continue to act against infiltrators,’ a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.
It was using a term often employed by the government to refer to illegal migrants, most of them Africans who slipped across the border from Egypt. It said tough government policy had so far led to he expulsion of 6,000 such illegals. ‘It was agreed that the interior minister will at the earliest opportunity draft the outline of a new law which will enable the continued arrest of new infiltrators and their transfer to a custodial facility for an effective period of time and to continue the operation of the Holot holding facility,’ the statement added.
The High Court ruled on September 22 that the government could no longer detain illegal migrants for up to a year without trial and ordered the closure of the Holot centre, deep in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, within 90 days.
The order came at a meeting with the ministers of justice, the interior and public security a day after a heated parliamentary debate which saw hardline MPs attacking the court ruling.
‘At the end of the meeting, the prime minister requested that a new bill be prepared that would express the government of Israel’s determination to continue to act against infiltrators,’ a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.
It was using a term often employed by the government to refer to illegal migrants, most of them Africans who slipped across the border from Egypt. It said tough government policy had so far led to he expulsion of 6,000 such illegals. ‘It was agreed that the interior minister will at the earliest opportunity draft the outline of a new law which will enable the continued arrest of new infiltrators and their transfer to a custodial facility for an effective period of time and to continue the operation of the Holot holding facility,’ the statement added.
The High Court ruled on September 22 that the government could no longer detain illegal migrants for up to a year without trial and ordered the closure of the Holot centre, deep in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, within 90 days.